One of the more unusual recipes in "THE SOUTHERN TAILGATING COOKBOOK: A GAME-DAY GUIDE FOR LOVERS OF FOOD, FOOTBALL, AND THE SOUTH" by Taylor Mathi is for what looks like lemon bars, but turns out to be Jell-O shots made with cake-flavored vodka and lemon Jell-O.

"We had a lot of fun developing that one," Mathis said.

I bet. And I think I see king-cake flavored Jell-O shots in the not so distant Carnival future.

Lemon Bar Shots

Makes 8 servings

2 (3-ounce) boxes lemon Jell-O

2 cups boiling water

9 tablespoons cold water

1 cup cake-flavored vodka

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon Amaretto

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Add the Jell-O to a medium-sized bowl. Pour in the boiling water and stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Add the cold water, vodka, whipping cream, Amaretto, and lemon zest and stir.

Cut into squares and dust with confectioners' sugar right before serving.

From THE SOUTHERN TAILGATING COOKBOOK: A GAME-DAY GUIDE FOR LOVERS OF FOOD, FOOTBALL, AND THE SOUTH by Taylor Mathis. Text and photographs copyright 2013 by Jeffrey Taylor Mathis. Used by permission of the University of North Carolina Press.